Malusi Gigaba
Photo by: Duane Daws
There are no long queues of people waiting for unabridged birth certificates, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday.
There had been a rush over the past festive season and the department had expected the same during holidays and the peak travel season.
''In general there is no high influx of clients seeking unabridged certificates at our offices,'' he told National Freedom Party MP Nhlanhlakhayisa Khubisa on Thursday.
He said letters in lieu of unabridged birth certificates were issued to applicants who did not receive them for travelling purposes within their turnaround time.
Applications were captured daily to improve turnaround time, and queries received were attended to on the spot.
Khubisa had written to say that at some offices there were up to 500 people in a queue for the certificates from 04:00 and many were turned away when the offices closed at 16:00.
In February, the department announced that the controversial rule that parents needed their minor children's birth certificates to enter or leave the country would be changed.
Home affairs director general Mkuseli Apleni said the regulations were being reviewed and amended. In future parents' details would be printed in the minor's passport, meaning they would not have to carry birth certificates.
In addition to travel, many schools required the certificates to register pupils.